Love Under Construction
by JStone95
Summary: AU. The first time Isuke noticed Haruki, it wasn't even because of Haruki herself. She was on her way home when a group of excited girls standing by some metal fences of a new construction site captured her attention. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: **I know in Japan you have to wear your work clothes on a construction site, but for the sake of this story, let's ignore that -

* * *

The first time Isuke noticed Haruki, it wasn't even because of Haruki herself.

She was on her way home when a group of excited girls standing by some metal fences of a new construction site captured her attention. Instantly annoyed by their giggling and general immature behavior, Isuke pushed her sunglasses further up her nose to conceal her glare at them. She just didn't understand how people could be so shallow and embarrassing; she estimated the group of eight girls to be high school seniors, and yet they had no shame, grabbing and pressing their faces against the fences to get a better look at something interesting. Or rather, someone.

As Isuke passed their backs, one of them excitedly said in a hushed tone, "Here she comes!", and she stuck her hand through a gap to point out what she saw. Her friends muffled their delighted squeals behind their hands.

Isuke wouldn't have spared them a second glance if it wasn't for the pronoun that immediately sparked her interest.

It wasn't unusual for some construction sites to have well-built men working with their shirts off and attracting a female crowd during summer, but she had never witnessed a woman to have the same effect.

Isuke's heels came to stop. She was torn between keeping her pride and relieving some of her curiosity. She came to the conclusion that she didn't have to stand next to the high school girls, she would make it look like she was interested in the foundation of the new building.

She made sure to strut a good distance away from the high school girls before she lowered her pace and allowed herself to peek through the fence and find out for herself what was so interesting about gray half-built walls and building materials spread all over the place. She squinted her eyes and saw nothing special, just the usual sight of sturdy men in dirty, sweaty tank tops, and none of them were attractive enough to her to deserve a little crowd of girls watching them.

Isuke adjusted her sunglasses and leaned away from the fence. She had just misheard the girls, there was no woman working at this construction site.

Just when she was about to turn away, she heard a big clang of metal crashing against metal, and she instinctively searched for the source of the noise.

"Watch it, Sagae," a gruff, deep voice grunted. A much lighter and definitely feminine voice replied, "Sorry, sorry." The bright voice didn't sound much apologetic to Isuke. "Don't know how I could've missed that beer belly of yours entering the door first."

Hidden by a shorter and broader man stood a tall, athletic and feminine figure, and Isuke's sunglasses slid down her nose as she tilted her head and peered over them. Her resentment for the group of high school girls dwindled as her own interest in that woman increased.

"Just get back to work," the man unfriendly said, and picked up a metal rod from the ground.

The woman with long red hair tied in a ponytail chuckled and mocked him with a salute, then picked up her own dropped material and placed them on her shoulder. During these movements, Isuke could see strong arm muscles working beneath smooth skin, and the woman didn't seem to have any problems with the heavy weight. Whistling an upbeat tune to herself, she easily walked around with a bunch of metal rods propped on her shoulder, all of them around the same length as her height.

Isuke slowly pushed herself away from the fence. She glanced to the side to see the high school girls loudly admiring the female builder's strength.

"Pff," she uttered with disdain, pushing her sunglasses up her nose again.

Sure, the woman was nice to look at, but she was still just a construction worker and her personality seemed to be as uncouth as her fellow workers. Isuke didn't plan on getting involved with someone of a class beneath her, they couldn't offer her the living standard she was used to. People could say what they wanted, but financial security was a valid point in choosing partners.

Isuke furrowed her brows. Why was she even thinking this about a woman she had only seen for a minute?

–—-

The first time Haruki saw Isuke, she had only seen her back.

"Oi, did you see that fine ass watching me?" one of Haruki's co-workers excitedly said, and he stopped his work to show her who he meant. He pointed with his dirt-stained finger to the north side of their construction site, and Haruki looked up to see the backside of an undoubtedly alluring female body walking away.

"Yeah sure," Haruki decided to humor him since he was one of the few friendly guys she worked with. He was gullible and at times conceited, but otherwise a decent person who defied the unfavorable stereotype of a construction worker.

"But she is obviously an Ojou-sama," he added with a dejected sigh. "Looking is as far as this goes."

"Hm," Haruki neutrally hummed, getting back to work. She didn't have troubles like her colleague, all she could think about day and night was making enough money to feed her family and to save the rest for education. Working on a construction site wasn't something she planned to do forever.

Aside from wanting to improve her living standard, she knew she was meant for higher education, she just didn't have the means to afford it. Since she had always been taking side jobs as long she could remember, there hadn't been much time left for studying between taking care of her younger siblings and working two different shifts. Her grades in high school hadn't been good enough to get her a consideration for a scholarship, but they were still high enough to get her into the colleges she wanted if she could only afford the tuition fee. And even if she had gotten a scholarship, she couldn't have left home with a bunch of underage siblings running around and a sick mother lying in the hospital.

"Hey, you're overdoing it," her colleague warned her, and she stopped hammering, only now realizing the dent she was making.

"Thanks," she muttered, wiping at her sweaty forehead, "can't afford to get fired yet."

"It's not like they would."

She questioningly glanced at her fellow worker, who grinned at her and then nodded to the fences that kept pedestrians out of the construction site. A small group of high school girls quickly dispersed when they saw her looking their way.

"You're giving this place some good publicity, whether you notice or not." He laughed at Haruki's stunned face. "They're always here after school. And it's not just them, you've got quite a bit of fans of every age."

Haruki thought about this for a second before she shrugged and went back to work. "Unless they pay me, they're useless to me."

–—-

Despite seeing each other daily, their eyes never met. Isuke never lingered long when she paused to watch, and Haruki only ever managed to catch a glimpse of her when she was walking away, wondering to herself how that stunning figure would look like from the front.

The first time they exchanged words was the first time Haruki got to see Isuke's face. And it was also the first time Isuke got to know more of Haruki's personality, which turned out to be completely different than initially thought.

–—-

Isuke was walking her usual path that had her passing the new construction site two blocks from her apartment when she noticed the workers sitting close to the fences and having lunch. Needless to say that she decided not to pause and look out for the female builder today, so she strutted past the workers with her head held high and her designer bag pressed between her body and arm.

That was when someone whistled and cat-called after her.

She gritted her teeth in irritation and came to a stop. She wondered how she could teach that someone a lesson despite a metal fence separating them, but then she heard someone else beating her to it.

"Ow, fuck," a man exclaimed, "what the hell, Sagae?"

"Jerks like you are the reason why we've got such a bad reputation," a female voice said in annoyance, and Isuke quickly turned around. "Just don't do that, man. It's lame and creepy, and it shows zero respect. If you don't know her, then shut up, 'cause girls get freaked out by that."

"Then why is she coming back?" the man smugly said, but his smugness didn't last long when he saw Isuke's deep scowl.

"If it weren't for this fence, you'd be dead by now," Isuke sweetly said, but her mouth was twisted in a malicious smile. Her narrowed eyes spoke of murder. "Whatever high opinion you have of yourself, just know that nobody wants your attention. I mean, look at yourself –" She paused to give him a once-over with a disgusted look. "It would be far more convenient if this place was surrounded by walls instead of fences, at least that way nobody has to put up with your sight."

The builder's face was burning red with anger and that his co-workers were snickering gleefully didn't help. He looked like he wanted to shout back some insults to save the crumbling bits of his pride, but the red-haired woman placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

"Whatever," he spat, turning around and walking away. "Bitch."

Isuke clenched her teeth and wanted to yell after him, but noticed the woman on the other side of the fence grinning at her. She forgot what she wanted to yell about at the sight of such a carefree and bright grin.

"Sorry about him," the redhead said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder, "he's got a lot to compensate for."

Her fellow workers broke out in laughter, and her grin widened.

The deep wrinkle between Isuke's eyebrows softened, and though she still looked annoyed, she felt much more at ease now. "Make sure he won't do that again."

"Count on me," the other woman said with a smile. "But in case he causes you trouble again, you should know where to go first. Name's Haruki Sagae if you ever need me."

Isuke didn't like the warmth making its way up her neck and cheeks, and she decided to act before it was physically noticeable. She avoided Haruki's eyes that had a strange magnetic pull to her, and cleared her throat.

"Unlikely," she curtly said, and with a flick of her hair, she walked away. She hadn't gone that far when she heard the workers laughing at their female colleague, teasing her about being coldly brushed off.

"I just tried to help," was all she had to say, sounding earnestly confused and worried about her good intention not shining through.

Isuke bit her lip but forced herself to keep walking.

—–

For a week, Isuke avoided any route that involved passing the construction site where a certain female redhead worked. She didn't know why she went out of her way to distance herself from someone who never saw her anyway. Whenever Isuke had paused by the fences, Haruki had always been working with her back turned to her, so it wasn't like Haruki knew about her frequent visits in the past.

Isuke decided to stop handling the situation like a coward, this wasn't like her at all. Intimidation was something completely unknown to her – she didn't get intimidated, she only caused this feeling in others.

So the next day, she walked the familiar streets to the construction site again and her steps automatically slowed down as she neared it. She spotted no workers sitting by the fence, but according to her expensive watch, it was already lunch time.

Pretending to be only walking by, she casually glanced through the fences, but couldn't get a look of the person she had been avoiding and now was searching for. She couldn't explain the disappointment welling up in her chest when there was no sight of messy red hair.

"Um, excuse me?" a nervous voice said behind her, and she felt instantly annoyed when she recognized it as male. She wasn't in the mood to deal with any of the male builders right now. She turned around, letting out an irritated, "What?"

The man startled at her abrasive reaction and hugged his yellow helmet closer to himself. His voice cracked as he stuttered out, "I – I see you often come by and stand here and I just thought…nothing. It's nothing. I'm – I'm sorry."

After a quick bow, he walked away so fast it seemed like running.

Isuke enjoyed great satisfaction at this sight, feeling reassured in her ability to intimidate others with a simple glare.

"That's going to haunt him for a long time," someone chuckled behind her.

Isuke froze, her shoulders visibly tensing, before she turned around and took a deep breath.

Haruki brightly grinned at Isuke with a Pocky stuck between her smiling lips. If it weren't for the yellow helmet tucked beneath her defined arm, no one would assume her as one of the builders. She looked far too casual to be working on a construction site, what with wearing tank tops and shorts. Showing so much skin could be distracting, and Isuke wasn't thinking of the male co-workers, but rather of the female pedestrians who liked to linger by the fences and watch her work.

"Let it haunt him for the rest of his life," Isuke said without any guilt, focusing her eyes on a point above Haruki's eyes so she wouldn't have to look in them. But that made her only notice her long bangs and the few hair pins holding them together, and she was back to gazing into grinning eyes. She abruptly turned her head to the side and crossed her arms.

Haruki frowned at Isuke's dismissive reaction and scratched at her neck, which was a habit she had developed whenever she felt nervous or helpless. This time, she felt both, and she hesitantly said, "Is there anything I can help you with? I mean, he wasn't completely wrong, you do seem to be passing by a lot…"

Isuke went rigid. Her illusion of Haruki's obliviousness to her frequent visits had just been shattered, and she tried to make up a believable lie that would both deny the facts and make Haruki look ridiculous for bringing them up in the first place.

"I mean, if you're interested in this building's apartments, you should buy them now because they'll probably be sold out by the time it's done," Haruki explained, unaware that she herself had given Isuke a dignified out.

"I know that," Isuke quickly said, feeling relieved at the excuse that Haruki had unknowingly offered her. "I was just keeping an eye on the process. I want my apartment to be finished in time."

"Don't worry," Haruki optimistically said, and Isuke watched the Pocky dangerously dangling from the corner of her smiling mouth. "We're working hard everyday, so leave it to us! But I guess it doesn't hurt if you come by every so often, it really motivates us to give our best."

"Eh?" Isuke's voice sounded faint and high, and she cleared her throat to compose herself. "It motivates you?"

"Yeah," Haruki chuckled, taking her Pocky out of her mouth and twirling it between her thumb and index finger. "There's no better motivation to work than a pretty woman watching us." And she finally took a bite off her Pocky, giving Isuke a playful wink at the same time.

Stunned, Isuke didn't react for a short moment, but when she did, her cheeks flamed up with a vibrant red within seconds and she faced away with her hand covering her mouth.

"What a cheap thing to say…"

Her muffled voice sounded far too high-pitched to give off the unaffected impression she had been aiming for. She silently and repeatedly cursed herself, feeling greatly embarrassed about her own uncontrolled reaction.

"Are you alright?" Haruki worriedly asked, placing her helmet on the ground and putting her Pocky back in her mouth so she could reach out to Isuke with two hands, "Your face is burning, is it the heat? Do you want to lie down and drink some cold water?"

"No!" Isuke snapped, leaning away from the hands that just wanted to check her temperature.

Haruki quickly took a step back and apologized three times in a row for invading her private space, bowing her upper body so far down that she missed the regretful look in Isuke's eyes. Isuke hadn't meant to snap at her so harshly, she had been just overwhelmed with her own embarrassment. But it seemed like that Haruki had no idea what was going on, she only kept wrongly interpreting Isuke's reactions.

"It's – it's okay," Isuke said, her eyes softening when she saw that Haruki was still facing the ground in an apologetic bow. "You can look up now, people are staring already."

"I'm really sorry," Haruki repeated as she straightened herself, awkwardly gesturing between herself and Isuke. "People like me shouldn't be touching people like you."

And it made Isuke forget about her previous embarrassment. Though she had immediately understood what Haruki was saying with this, she couldn't help but repeat, "People like you?"

For the first time, Haruki didn't seem like she had a confident answer for this, and she looked to the side as she scratched at her neck. She was certain that Isuke had understood what she had been referring to, but she didn't know why she was made to explain it. Maybe to rub the huge gap between their social classes in or maybe because Isuke didn't agree and wanted to argue against that by first knowing Haruki's stand on it?

"Like my friend said, you're obviously an Oujo-sama," she slowly said. "I shouldn't be even bothering you in the first place. Man, you probably think I'm a big idiot."

Isuke huffed. "Well, you're not wrong."

Haruki let her head hang, opening her mouth to start another apology again when Isuke added, "You are a big idiot for believing this bullshit."

Haruki's head quickly jerked up, and she looked both confused and hopeful. It was physically straining for Isuke to stay mad at this face, and she tried to sound stern and impatient, but her voice came off as the complete opposite. "What kind of idiot still believes in a strict class separation? This view is outdated and stupid, and it doesn't even matter when you fall in l-" She bit her tongue to stop talking.

But Haruki questioningly tilted her head and seemed to patiently wait for her to finish her sentence. "Fall in l-?"

"Large pits," Isuke finished slowly, immediately cringing at the terrible excuse. "Social standing doesn't matter when you fall in large pits, people will try to help you out anyway."

Isuke felt like she had just died a little at the most pathetic excuse she had ever made. Lying usually came easy to her, but today, one sad excuse after another came and all that in less than ten minutes of talking with Haruki.

"Makes sense," Haruki agreed, her expression lighting up.

"Anyway," Isuke quickly said, "don't mention it again. And don't say idiotic things again. Actually, just stop being an idiot, that might help."

"Duly noted," Haruki laughed, and it confused Isuke how someone could laugh so freely at something meant to be insulting. "I'll be less of an idiot next time you pass by, Miss – uhm…" She faltered. "I'm sorry, I never got your name?"

Isuke didn't understand why her cheeks decided to tinge red at this very moment. She didn't understand most of her body reactions when it came to Haruki Sagae. "Isuke Inukai. But because I'm still pissed, it's Isuke-sama for you."

"Sorry, sorry," Haruki easily said, grinning. "Then, Isuke-sama, I've got to get back to work. It was nice talking to you, see you on another day!"

She picked up her yellow helmet, gave her a cheesy salute and walked along the fences until there was an opening and she slipped inside, now back on the construction site with her helmet secure on her head.

Isuke stood there unmoving for a minute before she slowly turned around and walked back home.

_It was nice talking to you._

That was something she had never heard anyone say to her before.

She felt something other than her cheeks getting warm, and it was pounding wildly in her ribcage.

–—-

When she first started working as a builder, she had to go through all the things someone would expect going through as a female in a male-dominated field of work. From light verbal jabs to blatant sexual harassment, she had already experienced them all, but had dealt with each cases accordingly. Starting out as an underestimated helper, she quickly became a valuable co-worker who equaled in both strength and skill with her male colleagues. She learned fast and wasn't shy about approaching new ideas, most of the time coming up with new solutions of her own.

Her abilities gained her both friends and enemies within her work team; some men just couldn't get along with the idea of a young woman being successful in the same field as them, while others admired her for the same reason. But one thing that no one could deny was that she was talented, and she had become irreplaceable with the set of skills she possessed.

The respect for her, whether it was pure admiration or reluctant concession, was the reason why no one questioned her when she decided to go on her lunch break earlier than usual. They had already figured out that it had to have something to do with the pink-haired woman standing by the fences, who had become a known face by now.

–—-

"Checking on your future home again?" Haruki said with a grin as she approached Isuke, stopping a few steps before the metal fence that separated them.

For a moment, Isuke was perplexed about what Haruki meant with 'future home' until she remembered her pathetic lie about having bought an apartment of the building that was to emerge from this construction site.

"So what if I am," Isuke said with her arms crossed. "I don't see you working."

"Ah, I decided to have my lunch break earlier today," Haruki explained with a smile. "Would you like to join me?"

Isuke bit on the insides of her cheek. She hadn't had lunch yet and was actually about to go eat right after having visited the construction site, so there was no real reason to decline. She would get to be alone with Haruki. It's what made this offer both tempting and intimidating. Could she handle spending more time with a person who made her feel so many weird things at the same time, making her discover sides of herself better left unknown?

Talking to Haruki came with irritation, confusion, embarrassment and uncertainty; she never knew how to properly react and was speechless more often than not. She wasn't ready to be confronted with unpredictable situations where she was going to look like a fool. But that was exactly the same reason that made her want to spend more time with Haruki because the redhead didn't think of her as a fool when she had nothing coherent to say. She didn't take Isuke's dismissive reactions personal, she didn't get intimidated by her abrasive outbursts, she generally seemed to possess more patience to deal with her than most people.

"It can't be helped then," Isuke sighed. The sigh was more directed at herself for being so incapable of handling and reacting to things like normal people.

"Yes," Haruki cheered and triumphantly punched the air.

"Idiot," Isuke muttered under her breath, but was charmed by Haruki's unveiled enthusiasm. She seemed like the kind of person to honestly express their feelings without being sorry.

"I know a good hot dog stand down the-"

"No," Isuke interrupted before Haruki could finish a suggestion she clearly wasn't going to accept. "That kind of food is garbage and not what you should eat for lunch."

"Eh?" Haruki meekly protested. "But that's what I've been eating for a month now."

Isuke shook her head with a sigh. "Just be quiet and follow me."

–—

"Something wrong?" Haruki said after swallowing a big bite of sushi. She noticed that Isuke had paused eating to watch her, and she self-consciously wiped her mouth, thinking that the other woman was disgusted by her rushed eating habit.

"You eat like you have been starving for days," Isuke pointed out, and she didn't say it in a condescending manner. She was fascinated by the way Haruki's eyes would light up at the sight of a new sushi plate, almost mesmerized by the way her face openly showed every twist and turn of her emotions. It felt like watching a small child eat their favorite food; they would savor every bite and scrunch up their face in pleasure.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing Haruki could think of saying, lowering her chopsticks. She sheepishly grinned. "It's really good. Thanks for showing me this place."

"Well, you really need to eat better," Isuke replied, looking slightly to the side so she wouldn't have to meet Haruki's gaze. "Especially if you're doing the kind of job you do."

"Wow," Haruki breathed out, a smile stretching from ear to ear. "Isuke-sama cares about me! My life is complete," she dramatically said, before stuffing another piece of sushi in her mouth with a happy grin.

Many malicious retorts with the intention to undermine that statement came to Isuke's mind, but her mouth refused to open and say them out loud. They didn't sound right, not even in her head. Watching Haruki still smiling at her with stuffed cheeks destroyed every bit of her resolve to get angry at her over nothing, and she exhaled loudly.

"It doesn't take a lot to satisfy you, does it," she muttered evasively.

Haruki waited until she finished chewing her food before she said with a shrug, "You've gotta take what you can get. Otherwise, life would be pretty sad if you just waited around for the big jackpot while you missed out on the smaller prizes you could get everyday."

"That's," Isuke paused, deliberating whether to take that response seriously or mock Haruki for making profound statements, "not really surprising coming from you."

Considering that Haruki most likely grew up with a poor financial background, she had probably learned to appreciate little things to stay optimistic throughout life.

"Hm," Haruki hummed, her mouth full again as she chewed with undimmed appetite. She had close to a dozen plates piled up next to her, and if everyone in the restaurant took advantage of the sushi buffet like her, that place possibly wouldn't be able to sustain itself very long.

Isuke resumed eating again in a slower pace than Haruki, and she noticed that the other woman wasn't exactly unrefined in her eating habits, but her rushed movements made it seem like that. Haruki never talked with her mouth full and regularly wiped her mouth with a napkin between every third and fourth bite, but her large bites and fast chewing stood out and dominated her appearance. Isuke wondered if that was how she always ate or if that was circumstantial because of her limited lunch break time and the unlimited buffet.

"Say, Isuke-sama," Haruki said after clearing her throat and wiping her mouth, "how do you plan on furnishing your apartment?"

Isuke coughed and quickly put down her chopsticks to grab her tea, buying herself some time by sipping on it slowly. She couldn't keep reacting this suspiciously, even someone as oblivious as Haruki was bound to catch on one day and she didn't think she could face the embarrassment if her lie was ever revealed. There had been moments where she had contemplated about actually buying an apartment so she would have a legit reason to check up on the construction site almost every other day, it wasn't like she couldn't afford it. But she had a perfectly fine apartment two blocks away, and buying another one just to back up a lousy lie in front of someone she had met two weeks ago seemed overly irrational. She did have a lot of pride, but that didn't interfere with her rational mind. Well, most of the time it didn't.

"I'll hire an interior designer," Isuke offhandedly remarked like it had been her plan all along.

"Oh," Haruki commented, sounding a bit disappointed, which only confused Isuke.

"Why do you care?"

Haruki leaned back in her seat with a shrug. "It's nothing, probably stupid."

"No difference from your usual ramblings then. Tell me."

"It's just," Haruki scratched her neck, "I thought you were the kind of person who likes everything to have a personal note. You know, choosing furniture and placement on your own because you have a clear idea of how your apartment has to look like. I know interior designers don't do their own things without your opinion, but some part of your personality gets lost in the process…"

"That's," Isuke swallowed, "ridiculous." Spot on.

Nothing in Isuke's current apartment had been randomly decided, every piece of furniture and decoration had been placed there after careful consideration of her part. The only thing she hadn't done herself was moving them around. Just as Haruki had said, Isuke liked personalized things, and one look at her pink convertible that matched her favorite nail polish color confirmed that.

"I said it's stupid," Haruki muttered. They resumed back to eating in silence.

Isuke's conscience was nagging at her to stop being such a cold coward toward Haruki. She didn't even know why she reacted the way she did, she was so used to guarding herself and pushing others away that she did those things without a second thought. But with Haruki, it felt wrong to treat her like that, it felt like scolding a puppy for something that other dogs had done.

"It's not stupid," Isuke finally spoke up in quiet and almost soft tone. She was facing her plate as she shoved the pieces of sushi around with her chopsticks. "You're not stupid. If you keep calling yourself that, others will think it's alright for them to call you that too."

Surprised, Haruki looked up from her own plate. "Aren't you the one who likes to call me an idiot?"

"Well," Isuke uncomfortably shifted in her seat, "you know I don't mean it like that."

"Then like what?" the redhead curiously asked.

"Like…" Isuke gave up when she had no answer. "Doesn't your lunch break end soon?"

And it effectively distracted Haruki, who let out a quiet, "Shit."

She shoved the rest on her plate in her mouth, downed her tea and signaled a waiter to pay. As she fumbled for her wallet in her pocket, Isuke had already pulled out a couple of bills and given them to the waiter, telling him to keep the change. He bowed deeply and expressed his thanks, leaving them alone again.

"You shouldn't have done that," Haruki protested, having finally managed to free her wallet from her tight pocket.

"Don't tell me what to do," Isuke said, rolling her eyes. "Letting you pay would be quite low of me considering that you would need to work two hours to earn the money back."

"Yeah, but," Haruki looked to the side, "at least split it half half. I don't like owing people."

"You don't owe me." In that moment, Isuke's mouth decided to act on its own. "Because next time it's on you."

And when Haruki realized what this implied, her eyes lit up and she cheerfully smiled. "Deal!"

–—-

Satisfied and full from the meal, Haruki was in a decidedly good mood as she walked back to her work place with Isuke by her side. She had her arms crossed behind her head and grinned up at the sun with almost closed eyes, humming a happy tune to herself.

"What are you so cheerful about?" Isuke asked, fanning herself with her hand. The moment they had walked out of the air-conditioned restaurant, the sticky summer heat had instantly enveloped them and made them sweat. She felt uncomfortable and dirty, so she couldn't understand Haruki's enthusiasm because the redhead had to work for another few hours beneath the unshielded sun.

"Do I need a reason?" Haruki replied with a smile. She uncrossed her arms and stretched them. "I guess it's been a while since I had such a good lunch. Thanks again, Isuke-sama."

"You don't need to keep thanking me," Isuke muttered, thinking about how Haruki really was easy to please.

"I'd rather thank you one more time than sound ungrateful," Haruki said with a shrug.

Their steps slowed down as they neared the construction site, suddenly both aware that this meant goodbye.

"It was fun," the redhead smiled genuinely as she turned to Isuke. "If you want to do that again, you know when and where to find me." She did her trademark salute and winked, then slipped through an opening between two fences that she closed after being on the other side. "Until next time, Isuke-sama!"

Isuke found herself waving goodbye with her hand, and once Haruki laughed and waved back, she quickly let her hand drop and walked away.

It wasn't until she entered her apartment and let herself fall on her couch that her mind began to fill itself with a thousand thoughts at once.

_It was fun._

Fun? With her? She wasn't known for being a fun person to hang around, nothing about her personality provided humor for other people, her own taste in humor was dark and warped. But to hear that someone enjoyed her presence and considered it as pleasant…she furiously shook her head and grabbed the remote for the air conditioner.

So Haruki was a strange person, a strange but also very attractive person, and next time they meet up, Isuke would try to be easier on her.

She dropped the remote when a sudden thought entered her mind.

_Was that a date?_


	2. Chapter 2

The construction workers were muttering among themselves as they watched Haruki coming back from her lunch break with a familiar face by her side.

Those who had never liked her to begin with regarded this situation with far more jealousy than her friendlier colleagues, who, despite feeling a bit envious themselves, didn't begrudge her luck. They found it rather amusing to see the usually hardworking Haruki Sagae setting new priorities because for a certain someone.

Ever since they had started working on this construction site, Haruki had never shown any interest in the girls and women stopping by the metal fences and giggling over her, and she still didn't. With one exception of course, but that woman didn't giggle nor show any appreciation whenever she visited, she usually looked quite bored, and her designer sunglasses reinforced that impression. She never lingered for long as if she was just passing by, and no one dared to approach her anymore after two of their colleagues had been coldly brushed off. Slowly but surely, everyone came to realize that the unattainable woman only visited for one reason only, and the privileged person didn't even realize it.

Some of the men had already asked Haruki why the Oujo-sama came by so often, and she had given the same explanation Isuke had given to her. Though unconvinced, they hadn't mentioned her again, but kept a watchful eye on their youngest co-worker.

And they believed that she was too clueless for her own good.

There was a certain degree to which obliviousness could be seen as endearing, but the men found it almost frustrating that everything fell into Haruki's lap without her realizing it. She never saw her fans standing by the fences, being so immersed in her work that she cared for little else. And when she did look up, she would just give them a friendly wave because she didn't know what else to do, not wanting to come off as cold by not acknowledging their presence. That didn't help clear the illusion that their attraction was reciprocated.

Her colleagues often teased her about her popularity with the pedestrians, but she shrugged it off, saying that she was only interesting because she was working in an unusual field as a woman and that she had a role model function for younger girls.

They held their tongue and didn't bother to tell her that this was most certainly not it.

—

"You seem happy."

This sudden statement startled Isuke, and she put down her cutlery, reaching for her wine glass. "What are you talking about, Mama?" she mumbled behind her glass.

Eisuke lowly chuckled and observed his child with a fond smile. "Your reaction just confirms it. So tell me, what's the occasion? As far as I know, Papa didn't announce a surprise visit."

"Then it wouldn't be a surprise anymore," Isuke muttered. She put down her glass and decided to be honest with her mother. There was no use in lying, he would always find out. "I met a … friend."

"A friend?" Eisuke inquired with a raised eyebrow, and he instinctively became protective. "What kind of friend? Maybe you should introduce them to me during a dinner?"

"No," Isuke immediately protested. "It's not what you think. We've just met a few times. She's…interesting."

Eisuke lowly hummed, thoughtfully gazing at his daughter. "I don't think I've ever heard you describe someone as interesting. Maybe this really calls for an introduction."

"Mama, no," Isuke sighed, facing away in embarrassment. "You make it more than it is. But it's not like there will be more."

"What makes you think that?" Eisuke softly asked. Though he couldn't quite approve of the thought of his daughter becoming vulnerable to a stranger, it was the price of getting closer to someone, and who was he to deny her happiness?

"We're too different," was all Isuke wanted to say about this. She picked up her fork and knife and resumed eating, and Eisuke knew that this topic was closed. He decided not to probe for more information and just wait until she was ready to come to him, because she always did in the end. But female friend or not, he wasn't going to sit around and stay in the dark about this mysterious person who managed to catch his daughter's interest for the first time.

—

"Guys, look," one of the workers murmured, and his colleagues looked up, "Sagae's girl is back."

As discreetly as possible, they watched Isuke Inukai approaching the metal fences, her eyes already searching for a red-haired woman on the construction site.

"I don't think they're dating," another one doubtingly said. "More like a fling. I mean, Sagae's a nice kid, but she's got no chance to keep an Oujo-sama around."

"They're all the same," someone scornfully added. "Looking for a kick before they get serious and marry some rich bastard."

The men all muttered in agreement, watching Haruki pulling off her hard hat and putting aside her tools to greet the visitor. Like every other day, she was wearing a tank top that revealed defined arms and tanned skin. Her trained calves were bare as well.

Not few construction workers had hit on her during her first weeks, but every single one of them had been rejected, some more harshly than others, depending on their own approach toward the redhead. By the fourth week, it had become apparent that Haruki Sagae only cared about getting her work done. All attempts of flirting had stopped by then; there was only so much a male ego could take after being rejected so many times.

"And there she goes," one of them muttered.

Haruki pulled at a fence segment to create an opening for her slip through and step outside, coming face to face with Isuke, who was surprised by the sudden proximity to the other woman but didn't want to back away. She turned her head and said something which only made Haruki chuckle, and she blushed.

"Man, what I would give to be Sagae," someone sighed. The rest hummed in agreement.

—

"We're not going to a hot dog stand, are we?" Isuke warily asked as they left the busy main street and turned into a quieter side street.

"Ouch, Isuke-sama," Haruki pretended to be hurt as she put a hand on her chest. "You need to trust me, okay?"

She didn't see the uncertainty flickering in Isuke's eyes as she cheerfully pointed to somewhere ahead of them. "I found this place by accident, but it's really good and the food there doesn't make me bankrupt. Hope you'll like it."

Surprised and a bit skeptic, Isuke stood before a small Spanish restaurant which looked quite inviting with its colorful decorations and bright lighting. Despite being located in a side street, the place was filled with customers.

Haruki led them to a free table by the windows and waved at a few waiters and waitresses who already seemed to know her, judging by their welcoming smiles and hellos.

"Have you eaten paella before, Isuke-sama?" Haruki asked. "It's a bit like risotto. Basically rice, but, more awesome."

Isuke was still overwhelmed by her new surroundings. She was used to the calm atmospheres of sophisticated restaurants, but this one had upbeat regional music playing and the people conversed excitedly. It wasn't unbearably loud but not suited for relaxing either, all in all it could be described as lively. And somehow, Isuke could see why Haruki liked this place. It had a bit of her personality.

"No, I've never had that before," Isuke finally answered, picking up a menu card that was about to fall apart. "Why did you choose this place?"

"Ah," Haruki grinned and scratched her neck in bashfulness, "I really thought a long time about where to take you. I mean, you're probably used to five-star restaurants and it's not like I can afford that, so I wanted to surprise you with something new. And when I thought of you, this place came to my mind."

Isuke lowered the menu card and stared at Haruki in disbelief. "I remind you of this place? How?"

How did Haruki associate her with this lively and bright place?

"It hasn't been that long since your last vacation in a sunny place, right?" Haruki said with a grin.

"How – how do you know that," Isuke suspiciously glanced at her. "Have you been doing some research on me?"

"What? No, no," Haruki quickly said, shaking her head. She cleared her throat and faced away. "Last time when you wore a strapless top, I saw your bikini line. So I assumed you've spent your vacation tanning on a beach."

Speechless, Isuke subconsciously touched her shoulder and neck like she could feel the bit of skin that was whiter than the rest.

"Anyway," Haruki said, carefully looking at Isuke again, "if you enjoy sunny places and pretty beaches, I'm sure you would like the southern coasts of Spain. I've never been there, but they looked pretty cool in geography class."

When a waitress came to take their orders, Isuke was thankful that she was given a short pause to gather her thoughts. Distracted, she watched Haruki ordering drinks, a few tapas and a paella pan with seafood. The redhead seemed to be familiar with the waitress as she allowed herself to make a few jokes in between her orders, successfully making the other woman laugh. Too successful, Isuke thought as she got annoyed at the exaggerated high-pitched laughs. She wondered if the waitress was even taking notes with the way her eyes were fixated on Haruki's lips.

"Anything else, Isuke-sama?" Haruki asked her toward the end of her order. Isuke shook her head. It wasn't like she knew what to order even if she felt like trying out new things.

"The drinks will be coming soon."

"Cool," Haruki nodded with a lopsided smile, receiving a blush in return. Isuke rolled her eyes.

The waitress left with a hopeful glance over her shoulder, but Haruki had her attention back on Isuke, facing her with a mischievous grin. "So was I right about my guess? That you spent your vacation on a beach?"

Isuke crossed her arms. "Why, do you want me to reward you for staring at my chest?"

"What?" Haruki stuttered, her grin fading as she quickly leaned back in her chair. "I wasn't, I swear, those tan lines were on your shoulders, and I guess you have nice shoulders – but that's not the point, I didn't look at your breasts…even if they're nice too. Shit, please forget what I said."

Completely embarrassed, Haruki buried her face in her hands. Isuke wished to do the same, her cheeks tinged red at hearing Haruki's awkward confessions.

"Idiot," Isuke muttered in irritation, holding the back of her hand to her warm cheeks. "Watch your mouth when you're talking to me."

"I'm sorry," came the muffled voice, sounding quite subdued. "I'm really sorry."

"Stop apologizing."

"Sorr-"

"This is helpless," Isuke sighed, and she reached out to grab Haruki's wrists, prying them away from her embarrassed face. She was met with round unblinking eyes that guiltily gazed at her.

"Oh no." Not even with all the strength in her heart could she muster up the determination to stay angry at this face. Isuke let go of Haruki's wrists and leaned back in her seat. "You're forgiven. But only because you're paying today."

"Really?"

Isuke was amazed at how fast Haruki's mood could change. She wondered if she was dealing with an adult or with a child. But then Haruki casually ran a hand through her hair, brushing them behind her shoulder, revealing the smooth skin of her neck. And Isuke decided it was better to treat her as an adult or otherwise her thoughts would become inappropriate.

"Sorry for the wait," the waitress interrupted, bringing them their drinks.

Isuke smirked at the waitress' disappointed look when Haruki distractedly thanked her, not facing her as she took the drinks because was careful about placing the glasses on the table without spilling their content.

Once the waitress was gone, Isuke added to their paused conversation, "But I won't be so merciful next time."

A happy grin spread on Haruki's face.

"What," Isuke muttered, confused by the unexpected reaction.

"It's okay as long as there is a next time," Haruki said with a smile, and she contently sipped on her drink.

Isuke's eyes widened. She had done it again, implying that there was going to be a next time. At this rate, she would have to keep meeting up with Haruki and…

That was where her thought ended because she realized it wasn't exactly a bad thing.

"Don't think too much into it," Isuke muttered, facing to the side.

She couldn't help feeling that she was the one thinking too much into it.

—

Turned out that Isuke genuinely enjoyed Spanish cuisine; the new and refreshing taste had her silently moaning in appreciation, and she had to be careful about not forgetting her refined manners. She ate calmly with an elegant posture, but her focused expression and lack of words showed her enjoyment of the meal.

When she reached for her drink, she noticed that Haruki had stopped eating and was watching her with a knowing grin. Immediately feeling self-conscious, she defensively snapped, "What?"

"Nothing," Haruki lightly deflected, but her grin grew.

"Don't give me that," Isuke retorted, narrowing her eyes at the redhead. "You're obviously thinking something worth hitting you for, don't you?"

"Ah, don't be so mean to me, Isuke-sama," Haruki chuckled lowly, playfully winking.

It annoyed Isuke how such a cheesy mimic could affect her so much, and she pretended to ignore the other woman, turning her attention back to her delicious food. But chewing was a lot more difficult when you could feel someone watching you closely. After forcefully swallowing down a bite, Isuke gave up and glared at Haruki again, who was still grinning at her.

"What?" Isuke repeated. She liked to believe that she was more irritated than embarrassed. It wasn't like she had anything to be shy about, she knew she was considered aesthetically pleasing by most people with common sense. She was rather concerned with Haruki feeling no shame at all for staring so openly at her. She really was a strange person.

"Don't mind me," Haruki lightly said, cupping her cheek with her hand and propping her elbow on the table. "Please continue."

"Now I certainly won't," Isuke defiantly replied, putting down her cutlery and crossing her arms. "You ruined my appetite."

"That's a shame," Haruki said, still smiling. "You really looked like you enjoyed it."

"I was. Until you decided to become all strange and creepy."

Haruki sighed and reluctantly nodded. "Alright, alright." She picked up her fork, and before she shoved a bite of paella in her mouth, she paused and casually remarked, "I know it's just a personal opinion, but you're prettier without a frown."

Isuke could feel blood rushing to her face, and she abruptly stood up, not caring if that hadn't been a graceful move. "If you excuse me, I'm going to the bathroom."

Since Haruki's mouth was full, she only gave her a thumbs up and a wink.

Walking away from the table somewhat stiffly, Isuke silently cursed Haruki for all her stupid quirks, cheesy gestures and unrefined habits. What kind of person winked without meaning to flirt, what kind of human could say all these embarrassing things without blushing? Whether Haruki noticed or not, Isuke thought she was an idiot for unknowingly emitting a flirty and appealing aura.

Standing before the bathroom sink, Isuke scrutinized herself in the mirror and let out an annoyed huff when she saw her red-tinged cheeks. She splashed some cool water on her skin and gave herself a minute to calm down, telling herself that she needed better reactions for Haruki's forward behavior. She inhaled deeply as a way of mentally preparing herself before she left the bathroom again.

The moment she stepped outside, it became obvious that her absence hadn't gone unnoticed because mingling by her table stood the waitress from earlier, and she was loudly laughing over something Haruki had said. The redhead scratched her neck and weakly smiled, and it became apparent that she hadn't meant to say something funny.

Aside from personal reasons, Isuke decided to release Haruki from her uncomfortable situation and strutted back to her table, letting her heels loudly clack against the floor. That foreboding sound made both the waitress and Haruki turn to look at her, and while the former one looked alarmed and nervous, the latter one's expression lit up.

"If there's anything else you need, just call me," the waitress quickly said, before walking away to tend to the other customers.

As Isuke sat down and glared after her, Haruki looked quite pleased with Isuke's return, and she brightly said, "Look, we were given some churros. On the house."

Isuke's eyes fell on the plate Haruki was pointing to. "Churros?"

"Don't tell me you've never tried them," Haruki dramatically gasped. She picked up one of the long fried-dough pastries, dipped them in a mug filled with liquid chocolate and expectantly held it in front of Isuke's face. "Say 'ahh', Isuke-sama."

"Don't treat me like a child," Isuke muttered, warily eying the food in front of her nose.

"C'mon, life's about trying out new things." Haruki slightly waved with the churro and put it even closer to Isuke's mouth. "You won't be disappointed. Trust me."

Isuke felt a jolt run through her body at these words, and she inhaled sharply. She opened her mouth and took a bite off the offered food. Hesitantly chewing at first, her eyes widened when a heavenly taste filled her mouth and she suppressed an appreciative moan with her hand.

"Good, eh?" Haruki grinned, and she dipped the rest of the churro into chocolate again and finished it off herself.

That Haruki had eaten something she had already bitten into didn't go unnoticed by Isuke, but she wasn't going to mention it if the redhead treated it like nothing. Instead, she picked up a churro herself and copied Haruki's actions, soon relishing the wonderfully sweet taste again.

"See, you learned something new today," Haruki lightly said. "And that is to trust my judgment."

Isuke suppressed a snort that would have sounded very inelegant. "I'll pass on this lesson."

"Eh?" Haruki's expression fell. "Why?"

But Isuke didn't seem to be in any rush to explain this to her. She thoughtfully tilted her head. "Actually, I've never met someone with a worse judgment than you."

The more she said, the more Haruki deflated, and Isuke almost wanted to laugh at the wounded look.

"But I guessed right about your vacation," Haruki defensively said.

"With the detection skills of a child."

"And I knew you would like the food here."

"Luck. And I'm not that picky with food."

Haruki blew up her cheeks and looked at Isuke with a slight pout. Isuke had to brace herself not to falter and immediately give in.

"You're right, I do have the worst judgment," Haruki suddenly said. "I thought you were a fun person to hang around, but all you do is bullying me."

Though Isuke knew that Haruki meant it jokingly, she fell silent. There it was again, fun, a word she had never associated with herself nor expected others to.

"Isuke-sama?" Haruki carefully asked, having noticed the sudden mood change. "That was a joke. I still like hanging out with you."

"But why?" Isuke burst out, glaring at her plate. She was trying not to let her own confusion turn into anger and she didn't want Haruki to think it was directed at her. "I'm not fun to be around, I do bully you. You really are strange, aren't you?"

"Hey," Haruki protested. "Don't call something strange just because you don't understand it. If you want to know why I think so, then just ask, it's not like I'm gonna bite."

"Okay," Isuke sighed. Her eyes met Haruki's, but quickly dodged them again, afraid that she would be figured out within seconds. "Why do you think so then? I know I'm not…the most open person, I just don't see how you can think that spending time with me is fun."

"What I consider as fun is up to me, isn't it," Haruki said with a chuckle when she realized that Isuke wasn't all that self-confident as she pretended to be. She had her own doubts and insecurities, and she just needed some reassurance. "Maybe it's not fun for you in the same situation, but getting to know Isuke-sama is interesting and entertaining for me, so it's my idea of fun."

Somehow, before even Haruki had started to explain, Isuke had already seen this kind of answer coming. She didn't mean the content of the words, but the nature of them. The pure innocence, the untainted goodness – Haruki was so much of a good person that it made Isuke's heart ache.

"What will you do once you know me and realize I'm not a nice person?" Isuke said with an exasperated undertone. "How long will your idea of fun last then?"

"Geez, it's like you don't want me around, Isuke-sama," Haruki said with a lopsided smile. "Like I said, it's up to me whether I think it's fun or not, and since I already have such a bad judgment, I'll probably stick around for as long as you allow me to."

If Isuke wanted an out, she should take it now and leave. Because further beyond this point, there was no chance to run away anymore; by that time Haruki would have her wrapped so firmly around her finger that she would have absolutely no will to escape.

And she silently asked herself, did she care if that was the case? Her honest answer wasn't even surprising, and her heart beat quickened when she realized what that meant.

She let out a long breath, and finally looked up in Haruki's gentle eyes. "It can't be helped then, if you're so eager to get on my bad side."

And she gave her a tentative smile, her lips twitching nervously because she wasn't used to genuinely expressing affection.

But it was more than enough for Haruki, who returned her small smile with a bigger one. "I'm sure there are more sides to you, Isuke-sama, you just need to trust me to show them."

And as easy as it sounded, for Isuke to trust something had to go a long way. But somehow, she was ready to make an exception for Haruki, and letting her guard down around her happened naturally without making her feel defenseless.

"I'm most likely going to regret it," Isuke sighed, but the soft look she gave Haruki betrayed her words.

Befriending a person who triumphantly cheered at every word she said was her best decision yet.

—

They walked back to the construction site in an unhurried pace with Haruki lazily smiling up at the sun and Isuke trying not to complain about the sticky summer heat. Haruki was humming so cheerfully that Isuke didn't feel like saying anything that would contradict her mood, and her carefree smile provided some comfort for her.

"Hey," Isuke quietly spoke up, and Haruki faced her in interest. "How did you get your job anyway? Weren't there enough men to hire?"

"Are you saying I'm not strong enough," Haruki joked, but then turned serious to answer the question. "You see, I'm kinda friends with the daughter of Satoru Hanabusa of the Hanabusa Corporation. Heard of them, right?"

Isuke's eyes widened. "Everyone knows the corporation that owns half the city. And you mean to tell me that you know their heiress?"

"Yeah, kinda unbelievable, right?" Haruki chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. "She wanted to know what it was like to be in a public school, being home-schooled all her life, so she transferred to mine. Don't have to tell you that she didn't blend in well…and some kids had it out for her because their parents had been laid off by the corporation during a financial crisis."

"What did she expect," Isuke muttered without sympathy. "A corporation of that size has enemies everywhere, I'm surprised she hasn't been murdered yet."

Haruki frowned. "But she's not a bad kid. She turned out fine even if she grew up sheltered and spoiled. Makes delicious tea by the way. But that's not the point," Haruki shook her head to get back on track, "She didn't come to school to be bullied, she just wanted to know what a normal childhood was like. And she was putting real effort in getting along with others, so I wanted to help her. Taught her that you don't drink tea at high school parties and that drawing genitals on blackboards isn't an expression of art but of stupidity. Simple stuff like that, you know."

Somehow, Isuke could imagine that too well, seeing a young and mischievous Haruki teaching a sheltered rich girl about the less remarkable side of humans while she participated in those shenanigans herself.

"Are you sure you taught her useful things and didn't actually corrupt her?"

"What? Me?" Haruki gasped in mock indignation, and Isuke had her answer. "How else will she learn that mixing sweet liquor with beer is a bad idea until she tried it?"

Isuke suppressed a snort, putting her hand in front of her mouth to cover her smile. "I'm surprised that Mr Hanabusa hasn't put a bounty on your head yet."

Haruki laughed and brushed her hair over her shoulder. "It's because hiding secrets from your parents is just another normal teenage thing to do, and Sumireko took all my lessons to heart."

"I don't even know where to begin," Isuke said after a while, both amused and slightly troubled by the thought that one day, the Hanabusa Corporation was going to be led by someone who had been influenced by Haruki's questionable teachings.

"She's a smart kid, she knows that everything will eventually end," Haruki easily said. "Don't worry about her being a rebellious teenager forever. The city's future's going to be fine."

Isuke was more worried about the fact that she had been so easily read by Haruki. "How did you know I was thinking that?"

"I didn't, I was guessing," Haruki said with a shrug, then grinned when she saw Isuke's incredulous look. "Maybe I've gotten better at reading you?"

All Isuke could think of was, please not. Haruki being clueless was fine for her because that meant she could get away with embarrassing slip-ups.

"Anyway, the building company I'm working for is one of Hanabusa Corporation's subcontractors, and that was the only job I could do without much qualification," Haruki scratched her neck, suddenly self-conscious about her academic level. "And that's how I ended here."

Just as she finished explaining, they came to a stop by the construction site, and lunch break had already been over by fifteen minutes. Some of the workers spotted Haruki and waved at her to get back to work.

"Shit," Haruki said under her breath. "I'm sorry, but I've gotta go now. They can't get anything done without me," she added jokingly.

"I - ," Isuke bit her tongue to refrain herself from asking Haruki to abandon her work and stay a little bit longer. "Of course. Goodbye."

Haruki smiled and saluted her, receiving an eye roll for her cheesy gesture.

"See you around," she lightly said, and pulled at a metal fence to create an opening for her to slip through.

Isuke watched her walk back to her workplace and put on her hard hat, nodding to some instructions she was given, and disappearing inside gray walls.

"So this is where you spend most of your afternoons," an amused, male voice spoke up behind Isuke, and she experienced a feeling similar to a heart attack for the first time.

"Mama!" she quietly hissed as she whirled around, and she quickly grabbed Eisuke's arm and tugged him along with her. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Europe for business?"

She was pulling so forcefully and walking so fast that Eisuke almost stumbled trying to follow her, and he gently pried her hand off his arm. "Isuke, don't tell me you're nervous?"

"I'm not," she immediately countered, but couldn't suppress the urge to look behind her and check whether Haruki had seen them.

Eisuke wanted to glance back at the construction site too, but his daughter placed a forceful hand on his back and pushed him forward, and they walked down the street in silence.

While Isuke was both embarrassed and irritated, Eisuke couldn't decide between being amused or worried over Isuke's behavior.

Finally, he decided to break the silence by drily muttering, "Are you embarrassed about being seen with your Mama by your crush?"

"Oh god," Isuke groaned, hiding her face in her hands, "she's not – could you please stop, it's not like that."

"Isuke, you're usually better at lying, come try again."

His insistence on the topic wasn't helping her to calm down. "Mama," she whined, her tone similar to that of a disgruntled child, "please don't do this. Not now, not here."

"Well, then," Eisuke sighed. "As you wish. But as soon as we're home, we're having this discussion because I saw some interesting things today that I'd like to share."

Isuke didn't think it was possible for her mood to worsen. "How – how long have you been following me?"

"Hm," Eisuke smiled in amusement. "Long enough to know that you checked yourself in a shop window for two minutes before you met up with her."

—

If Isuke had known that her Mama would act like such a…well, mother, she would have never brought up meeting Haruki during their dinner last time. Eisuke had always been an indulgent and patient parent, quite liberal with Isuke's upbringing which she was aware of, and neither him nor his husband were the overprotective type. They had their fears like most parents but believed that sending their daughter out into the world was in her best interest.

Never had she thought that he would resort to the behavior of an overbearing mother.

"She's very attractive, I see how you got interested," had been Eisuke's first words on the inevitable topic. He hadn't beaten around the bush; as soon as they had gotten home, he had begun to tell his impression of Haruki Sagae.

Ten minutes later, he was still talking about her, and Isuke had already refilled her wine glass three times. She wondered if a glass had been necessary considering the speed she was downing the wine with, it would have made no difference from drinking directly from the bottle.

Lying on the couch on her side, she had propped up her head with one hand, the other holding her beverage from which she sipped every three seconds. Sometimes she would look up at her parent but quickly close her eyes again because Eisuke pacing up and down the living room made her dizzy.

"An impressive individual, I'm sure," Eisuke muttered, and he stopped pacing, turning to Isuke. "I'm really happy you found someone who makes you smile."

"People made me laugh before," Isuke mumbled into her glass, tilting it again to taste more of the wine.

"People falling over and getting laughed at by you doesn't count," Eisuke retorted, and he finally let himself fall on the single couch opposite of Isuke. That was when he noticed the little bit of wine left in the bottle on the coffee table between them. "Didn't you just open this one?"

"Perhaps."

"Isuke," he disapprovingly sighed, but didn't say more. She was an adult with the right to drink as much as she pleased. "Try to understand it from Mama's perspective, won't you? My daughter is finally opening up to something other than money, and I'm sure that's going to make Papa really happy too."

Isuke didn't reply, only increasing the angle of her tilted glass.

"Now, I want to make sure that girl isn't using you," Eisuke said, more to himself than to his daughter. "She seems very genuine, but no one truly knows until she's tested."

Isuke didn't like where this was going. Even if her head was starting to get fuzzy, she could still sense that a bad plan was about to be formed.

"Mama, no," she tiredly said.

"It's okay, dear, it doesn't involve you," Eisuke said, thoughtfully stroking his smoothly shaven chin. "Some people are still owing me favors."

"Don't," Isuke threateningly said, now pushing herself up in a sitting position. She swayed a little, but remained mostly stable.

"Maybe it's better for you to not visit her tomorrow."

"I said no," Isuke repeated, her voice getting louder. "Whatever you're planning, it's a bad idea. And I will never be able to show my face again."

"Nonsense," Eisuke dismissively waved with his hand. "If she really deserves Isuke, then that test won't stop her from pursuing you."

"No one's pursuing anything here!"

Anger began to cloud her already intoxicated mind, and she would have stood up and dramatically stormed out if she didn't think she would fall over the moment she stood on her feet.

"Haruki is," Isuke faltered when that name rolled over numb tongue, "Haruki…Haruki's too dumb to pursue me!"

Eisuke subconsciously leaned back in his couch at his daughter's unexpected outburst.

"She's nice with everyone! I hate her stupid grins and her idiotic smiles and those cheesy gestures…and why does she have to wink so often? Does she have convulsions?" Isuke angrily said, her pronunciation of the words getting slurred. She was wildly gesturing, and Eisuke nervously watched the wine in her glass swirling around. "And how can she talk with a damn Pocky in her mouth, why does she even like those? If she likes putting things in her mouth so much, how about she put me -"

"Alright," Eisuke decided to interrupt his daughter's rant before he got to hear things he wasn't ready to ever hear. "I think I understand."

"No one understands me," Isuke huffed, but she no longer seemed to be upset.

"And here I thought your rebellious teenager phase was long over."

Isuke glared at her parent. Looking him straight in the eye, she drank the rest of her wine in one take, and set the glass loudly on the coffee table.

"I'm going to shower," she declared and stood up, which she instantly regretted. She hadn't moved at all since she had begun drinking, and only now that she was standing did she realize how much alcohol she had consumed within the last half an hour.

As she staggered out of the living room, Eisuke watched after her with a worried look.

He sighed. "My baby's in love."

—

It wasn't the amount of wine that had gotten to her, but the short period of time she had consumed it in, and she deeply regretted everything. From allowing her Mama into her apartment for the embarrassing conversation, to grabbing the expensive bottle of wine, to her angry outburst where she had more or less revealed her true thoughts about Haruki.

Isuke woke up late, and when she turned over to glance at the alarm clock that had failed to ring this morning, she realized it was Haruki's lunch break in thirty minutes.

Now, math had never been a good friend of Isuke's, but she found herself calculating and estimating the minutes she would be late, and came to the conclusion that she could make it on time if she passed on repainting her fingernails. It wasn't like anyone would notice.

So she jumped out of bed, went through half of her closet until she found something she didn't hate, applied some quick make-up while loudly cursing, and grabbed her purse on the way out. Walking to the construction site took five minutes at maximum, three if someone was half-walking, half-running like Isuke was.

She could already see the familiar sight of metal fences surrounding a huge foundation, and her pace quickened. But then she came to an abrupt stop, and her heels stilled with one last loud clack against the dusty pavement.

Isuke couldn't believe this. She was only one minute late, just one minute, and Haruki had already given up on her, moving on to the next woman willing to give her attention.

The redhead was still on the construction site with a hard hat beneath her defined arm, but on the other side of the fence stood a fashionably clad woman, who absolutely matched the ideal of an aesthetic female body. Wearing a tight summer dress that left little to the imagination, the unknown woman took one step closer to the fence and placed her hand on it like she wanted to get rid of this barrier between them.

Isuke ground her teeth and was torn between leaving and strutting up to the scene.

But there was no need to.

Haruki sheepishly shook her head at something the woman had said and bowed slightly as a polite way of apologizing. She wanted to slowly back away, but the woman started wildly gesturing, pressing herself even closer to the fence which was the only thing holding her back right now.

Maybe now was the time to interfere, Isuke thought. Just when she wanted to start walking again, a new stranger was approaching the construction site. A tall and broad man with an intimidating face nodded to the woman who had been harassing Haruki, and they seemed to know each other, because she immediately backed away and left without another word.

If Isuke was confused by this, then Haruki had absolutely no idea about what was going on. The redhead didn't move from her spot as she looked up at the huge man with wide eyes.

He glowered down at her, and while he spoke, he made some very clear and very threatening gestures that even Isuke could distinguish from the distance. That was when she decided she needed to help Haruki, who looked overwhelmed by the situation.

Isuke quickly walked up to the construction site, but her loud clacking heels took the surprise as the large man turned his head toward the source of the noise and saw her approaching him. For one second, Isuke thought to have seen his eyes widening in recognition because in the next second, the man was gone, vanished around the corner.

"Haruki."

Slightly dazed, Haruki turned her head when she heard her name being called out.

"Isuke…sama," she quietly said, intimidated. Her eyes didn't meet Isuke's, there was no bright grin or happy smile to welcome her, no cheesy salute or playful wink to greet her.

And suddenly Isuke realized how much these things were a part of Haruki's personality that she didn't want to miss out on, how much she actually treasured those silly quirks and gestures. Getting to see a cheerful and carefree Haruki was a privilege she had taken for granted.

"What did he say?" Isuke demanded, ignoring her wildly pounding heart. She needed to know what had happened so she could chase down that man and kill him for killing the smile on Haruki's face.

"Not much, really," Haruki slowly answered, evasively looking to the side. "His gestures were pretty clear."

"What was it about? What did you do?"

But Haruki just shook her head and said, "It's not that important. It'll probably be forgotten soon."

"No," Isuke wasn't ready to take that for an answer, and she grew frustrated with Haruki's reluctance on revealing more information. "He clearly threatened you, your life might be in danger - so just tell me what it is, maybe there's something I can do for you, I know people."

Haruki weakly chuckled, and Isuke felt her stomach churning at the emptiness of the sound that was usually filled with light amusement.

"I don't want you to get involved," Haruki lowly said. She grabbed her hard hat and placed it on her head, pulling the peak down to hide her eyes. "I'm really sorry, Isuke-sama, but I don't have time for a lunch break today. My boss is keeping a close eye on me after I came back late yesterday."

"What?" Isuke uttered in disbelief. "You still need to eat."

"It's okay. I've got my Pockys. And knowing that you care so much gives me enough strength to work hard for your future home." Haruki still didn't look up, letting the peak of her helmet shadow most of her face. "Bye."

She walked away without a goodbye salute. And Isuke grew painfully aware of how much she missed it.

—

Isuke didn't sleep well that night. Tossing and turning, she gave up on resting very early in the morning and kept herself busy with various beauty treatments until noon. With grim determination, she headed out to the construction site, planning to have a serious talk with Haruki about what had happened yesterday. She wasn't exactly sure since when she had begun to care so much, but whoever had erased the smile from Haruki's face deserved to be erased from the face of earth.

Only Haruki wasn't there. After shouting at a nearby builder and demanding to know where the redhead was, she found out from the intimidated man that Haruki had taken the rest of the week off.

If that was true, and Haruki wouldn't return until next Monday, then Isuke wouldn't get to see her for four days. Four days too many.

She had no choice. She wasn't lying when she had told Haruki that she knew people. People who could provide services which were considered very much as illegal.

—

Isuke didn't know what she expected. Maybe a seedy block of buildings in a seedier neighborhood, maybe an old run-down house. Maybe something that she regularly saw in documentaries about poor people living in slums.

She checked the name plate to see if she was at the right address. She was.

It was a simple single-family house with a small garden and it looked well-tended. Maybe a bit small and old, but still in decent condition, and Isuke grew aware of her own ignorance toward the other side of the social spectrum. Poverty came in many shapes and forms, and it didn't always look like what was portrayed in the media.

She was hesitant about ringing the bell, not knowing what to expect and what she would find. Because if Haruki wasn't at home, then where could she be then? She realized that there was still so much to learn about her, so many things to discover, and she didn't want to stop here. She needed to learn more.

Before Isuke could bring herself to press the button, the front door opened, but no one was behind the door.

"Hello?" a tiny voice below her shyly asked.

Isuke looked down and saw wide, innocent eyes gazing up at her with curiosity. She held her breath when she recognized the familiarity of those eyes, and took in the tiny face that was unmistakeably related to Haruki.

"Hello…" Isuke muttered, suddenly feeling uneasy. She wasn't good with children, never liked them nor wanted them. "Is Haruki at home?"

The little boy dazedly nodded, his sparkling eyes glued to Isuke's face, which made her feel even more uncomfortable. When Isuke noticed that he wasn't moving or calling his sister, she cleared her throat and added, "Call her for me."

"What's the magic word?"

One corner of Isuke's mouth twitched impatiently. "Please."

"Haruki-nee-chan says it's important to have manners," the boy said in his light voice, and smiled brightly.

Isuke could see that this expression had to run in the Sagae gene.

The boy excitedly ran back inside the house, and Isuke could hear him shouting for Haruki and getting several responses from other voices. Isuke's eyes widened when she could distinguish between at least five different voices. Just how large was her family?

After a minute or two, the long awaited person stumbled into the hallway, shouting over her shoulder, "Yeah, yeah, I'm already there. So who's this goddess Aki is talking abo – Isuke-sama?"

Stunned by the unexpected visitor, Haruki froze in the hallway and just stared at Isuke, who still stood before the threshold.

"Hey," Isuke quietly said, her soft eyes steadily gazing at Haruki's. "Aren't you going to invite me in since I came all the way to check if you're still alive?"

"O – of course," Haruki stuttered and gestured clumsily. "Please come in. I'm sorry, it's a bit messy, couldn't know that you would…"

"It's okay."

Isuke closed the door behind her and took off her shoes, placing them next to a bunch of shoes of various sizes, most of them being children shoes.

"So this is where you live," Isuke stated, looking around. The wardrobe was bursting with jackets and other outerwear, a row of satchels was on the floor and a few toys in between them. Though it seemed a bit messy, it didn't feel dirty, and Isuke didn't get this itchy feeling she had whenever she stayed in a place she deemed as filthy.

"Yeah…" Haruki uncomfortably said, scratching her neck. "I know it's not really -"

"I like it," Isuke interrupted her.

"You – you do?" Haruki warily asked.

"It's…" Lively. Homey. Cozy. What a family's home should look like. "It's a part of you."

Isuke couldn't believe she had said that. Cheesy, affectionate lines were Haruki's thing, not hers.

But Haruki didn't think so, her skeptic expression fading and being replaced by a cheerful one. "You're nicer than you think, Isuke-sama."

"Shut up," Isuke muttered. "I don't see anything wrong with you, why didn't you come to work today?"

"Ah, did you miss me?" Haruki teasingly said with a grin.

"As if." Maybe. A little bit. Enough for her to be here right now. That was when Isuke realized the flaw in her answer. And Haruki seemed to think the same too, because she knowingly smiled.

"Anyway," Isuke forcefully said before the redhead could think of teasing her, "why did you take the rest of your week off too? Is it because of what happened yesterday?"

Haruki's expression dampened at the mention of yesterday's incident, and she dodged Isuke's eyes. "No. I'm honest, I swear."

"Then what's with the reaction?"

"You see," Haruki sighed, "about yesterday…I didn't want to worry you over nothing."

Isuke bit her lips from blurting out that Haruki had failed then.

"It was kinda about you," Haruki slowly said, and Isuke's eyes widened. "Basically, he told me to stay away from you if I didn't want my bones to be broken."

"What?" Isuke hissed, unable to believe this. She didn't even know that man, she had never met someone so large and intimidating in her life before, that man was so big he could be one of her Mama's bodyguards and…

"I can't believe this," she growled, clenching her fists. "I fucking told him no…"

Haruki wordlessly watched Isuke pulling at her hair in frustration as everything became clear to her. The alarm clock that didn't ring, the woman who tried seducing Haruki and the man who threatened her when the seduction didn't work. It suspiciously smelled of her Mama's bad plans.

"I'm sorry," Isuke sighed, shaking her head.

"Huh?" Haruki said in confusion. "For what? It's not your fault."

It was, very much so. "It's a long story," was all she was ready to tell. "I will take care of it. He won't bother you again."

"Really? How can you be so sure?"

The dark look in Isuke's narrowed eyes scared Haruki a bit. "Say, do you trust me?"

Taken aback by the question, Haruki's answer came delayed but steady. "Yeah."

"Then leave it to me."

"I don't want you to get involved," Haruki worriedly said, repeating the words from yesterday.

But Isuke only laughed humorlessly at this. "I'm already involved, more than you know. Let's not talk about this again, it will only piss me off."

"If you say so," Haruki reluctantly gave in, still eyeing Isuke with a concerned look.

"You still didn't tell me why you stayed at home," Isuke decided to finally switch the topic.

"Ah," Haruki's smile was back again, this time a small but very happy one. "You see, my mom was sick for a long time, but she's been getting better everyday and today, she finally got released from the hospital. I took the week off to look after her."

Again, Isuke was reminded of how little she knew of Haruki's life. And it just reinforced her need to learn more.

"That's good to hear," Isuke genuinely said, relieved that this was the reason why Haruki had missed at work. She deserved good things happening to her.

"Yeah," Haruki ran a hand through her hair, and she looked like she wanted to say more, but was cut off by a loud squeal. "Haruki-nee-chan!"

The little boy who had opened the door for Isuke earlier came running into the hallway from the living room and clung to his sister's leg. "Aki ate my cookie! It was for me!" He looked quite upset about this, looking up at Haruki with glistening eyes.

Haruki hid her amused smile and ruffled her brother's hair. "You can have mine. Tell Fuyuka that you're eating my share."

"Really?" he gasped, his eyes sparkling.

"Really."

He laughed happily, hugged her around her waist because that was the highest point he could reach, and ran back to the living room, shouting from afar that he got to eat Haruki's cookie. Haruki stared after him in amusement while Isuke couldn't take her eyes off Haruki.

Maybe having children wasn't that bad. With the right person at least.

She shook her head and questioned herself what she was thinking about.

"I need to go now," Isuke suddenly said, stepping backward.

"Oh," Haruki muttered in disappointment. "I'd probably insist on you staying if our house wasn't that messy. Maybe next time you can give me a heads up?"

Next time. There always seemed to be a next time with her. And Isuke found she didn't mind.

She nodded, turned to the door and opened it.

"Wait!" Haruki called out, and Isuke swallowed, wondering what the other woman could want now. She really needed to go before she said something stupid. "Will I see you on Monday?"

Isuke looked back at her, her expression softening. "What do you think?"

A bright smile spread on Haruki's face and she winked. "I think I'm a lucky woman."

—

When Isuke wanted to have a serious talk with her Mama about what he did, he was already halfway across the globe toward Europe, and his phone was unreachable. What a convenient time to be a on a business trip, she thought.

She had a lot of time to think about herself and Haruki now that they weren't going to see each other for a few days. Isuke didn't like dwelling on feelings or even analyzing them, she was hardly ready to acknowledge them in the first place. She felt punished to be plagued by these kind of thoughts; what had she done to deserve this, to become dependent on someone else?

But denial or no denial, she wanted to do something about this. She just didn't know what. If only she knew what was going on in Haruki's mind, if her bright smiles and grins were only for her, or if she gave them to everyone. Was she always that forward with her compliments or was it because she wanted to impress Isuke? Was there a chance of Haruki being romantically interested in Isuke, or was Isuke only interesting as a friend?

It was frustrating to no end to be unsure on how to interpret her actions. If Haruki was more of a serious person, then it'd be easier to distinguish her real feelings. But the redhead kept giving off ambiguous signals, reeling in both people interested in friendship and romance.

Isuke still believed that Haruki was too dumb to pursue her.

—

"You guys won't believe this."

The male builders looked up from their work when one of their colleagues came running and said in a hushed tone, "Sagae's girl is back, and guess what she brought."

They instinctively turned their heads toward the metal fences on the north side, spotting the familiar sight of red and pink hair within seconds.

"Looks like…"

"A bento box."

The reaction that followed were of pure disbelief.

"No way!"

"Women like her don't make lunch boxes."

"Do you think she let a maid prepare it for her?"

"Is more likely."

Self-made or not, every worker watched enviously as Haruki Sagae slowly opened her bento box with a stunned expression, her wide eyes taking in the sight of a plentiful meal.

—

"Now you have no excuse to skip lunch now matter how short your break is."

Isuke was getting better at suppressing her blush, now more or less confidently standing to her actions despite feeling her ears getting warm. Embarrassment still gnawed at her, but didn't bother her as much as it had done in the beginning. Because Haruki was so oblivious to so many things, it didn't hurt to be sometimes more obvious about it.

"Wow," Haruki breathed, feeling her mouth water at the delicious sight and smell of the lunch inside the large box. "Did you make it, Isuke-sama?"

"Does it matter?" Isuke uncomfortably said, telling herself to stay calm.

"Of course," Haruki said. She looked up at Isuke with grateful eyes. "It will taste even better if it was made by you."

"That's ridiculous." Isuke cleared her throat. "There's nothing difficult about putting rice in a rice cooker or frying eggs on two sides or cutting canned meat."

"Hm," Haruki hummed, licking her lips as she eyed her bento box. She put the lid back on. "Did you know that there's a park nearby, Isuke-sama? Let's have lunch there."

"Eh? This one is only for -"

"Did you have lunch yet?"

"No, but -"

"I know I'm a pig when it comes to eating but even I can't finish it all off, and I hate to waste food. Let's go!"

—

This was bad, Isuke thought. Really bad.

She couldn't keep her eyes off Haruki, her gaze repeatedly scanning her face from the tip of her bangs to the muscles in her jaw, watching them work as Haruki chewed with relish.

Isuke hadn't been hungry ten minutes before, but now had worked up a big appetite. And it wasn't for food.

Though she wordlessly accepted the bites of food Haruki would place in her mouth, feeding her this way, she had to forcefully chew and swallow down her self-made lunch because she desired something else completely.

"Everything okay?" Haruki paused eating to ask her, carefully gazing at the woman sitting besides her.

Despite the generous width of the park bench they were occupying, they sat close to each other in the middle with their thighs touching. Which was one of the reasons why Isuke couldn't focus on her lunch.

"Yes," Isuke breathed out, lacking the usual bite in her words.

Even Haruki seemed to notice that something was different today. She put aside the bento box, placed the chopsticks on top of it and waved a hand in front of Isuke's face.

"Idiot," Isuke muttered, facing away. "I'm not sick."

"Sorry," Haruki breathed out with a laugh at a finally normal reaction. "Something on your mind?"

"Do you think I would tell you if there was?" Isuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, that's why I just asked if there was something your mind, not if you liked to share."

She didn't know why she sometimes underestimated Haruki. As carefree as a child she could be, she could also be quite mature and more understanding than most people. Isuke's expression softened and she faced Haruki again, focusing her eyes on the colorful hair pins in her bangs. She didn't trust herself to speak without stuttering if she looked in those piercing eyes who seemed to have no problem reading her.

"If I wanted to share, would you listen?" she quietly asked.

Haruki realized that this was one the rarer moments where Isuke felt comfortable enough to put aside her defensive reactions and just be genuine with her. She gently smiled. "What do you think?"

Isuke's eyelids fluttered at the familiar words. Had they gotten to a point where they could tell each others' answers without a second thought? If that was true, then wasn't it just natural to progress from here?

"I think…I should consider myself a lucky woman," Isuke slowly said, her gaze finally meeting Haruki's. "But I've always been greedy, so there's something I need to know from you…"

She leaned closer to Haruki until their faces were few inches apart, and she heard the redhead sucking in a sharp breath at the sudden proximity.

"When you said that getting to know me is interesting to you…" she whispered, her eyes falling on Haruki's lips that were quivering in anticipation. "Do you only want to get to know me as a friend?"

Haruki let out a shaky chuckle, her dilated pupils fixated on Isuke's pink lips.

"You already know the answer, don't you," Haruki lowly said in a rough voice, slightly tilting her head to reduce the distance between their mouths. "You already know what I would say."

"But I want to hear it from you," Isuke whispered, her resolve not to be the first one to give in crumbling with every second that she was so close to Haruki. She could feel her warm breath on her lips, could feel the muscles in Haruki's thigh nervously twitching as their legs were still pressed against each other.

"Is that so," Haruki breathed, and Isuke could hear the smirk in her voice. She shuddered when she felt a daring hand on her thigh, resting slightly above her knee.

They were so close that Isuke could count every golden fleck in Haruki's eyes, could see her own reflection in them, and she wondered why she had always avoided looking her in the eyes before. Maybe she had subconsciously known that she would fall for her the second she got lost in them.

"Then," Haruki brushed a strand of hair out of Isuke's face, "I want to get to know you as a friend."

Before Isuke could comprehend what had happened, she felt soft lips on hers, pressing a short and gentle kiss on her closed mouth.

"And as a lover," Haruki added with a low chuckle against her lips, innocently grazing her mouth with every word.

With her heart wildly pounding and ears getting numb from all the blood rushing to her head, Isuke had never felt more alive.

"Idiot," she hissed with her cheeks burning. "Don't surprise me like that again."

And she cupped Haruki's cheeks with her hands and pulled her in for a kiss that she was prepared for. Their lips were moving against each other slowly, tentatively, almost shyly like in a first dance together as they took their time to get used to each other. With every second that passed, they became bolder and more daring, their pace quickening; Haruki buried one hand in Isuke's hair to get more of her, slightly pushing against the back of her head as an expression of need and desire. Isuke's finger dug into Haruki's skin, holding her tightly in place.

Beginning to pant, no one was willing to be the first one to back away, fearing to break the trance they had found themselves in. They wanted to keep up the illusion that all they needed was each other.

Haruki gently took Isuke's bottom lip between her teeth and licked it. Throatily groaning, Isuke slightly pulled away until Haruki let go of her bottom lip, just to lean in closer than before and slip her tongue into Haruki's mouth, meeting immediate resistance.

Putting two fingers beneath Isuke's chin, Haruki tilted her face up to get a better angle and languidly stroked Isuke's tongue with her own, smirking when she heard a small whimper. Deciding that this was a beautiful sound she wanted to hear more often, she deepened the kiss.

Their public display of affection was highly frowned upon by some, and highly welcomed by others, but nobody dared to break them apart. Mothers pushed their children to pass them faster while some men slowed down their pace as they walked past them.

As much as they wanted to keep going forever, they began to get uncomfortable in their clothes. The weather was already incredibly sticky and hot, and their own increasing body heat didn't help. But in the end, it was the need to breathe that broke them apart, and they pulled away with a gasp.

Panting, they wordlessly stared at each other, trying to make sense of what had happened. They had never meant to do this in public, but their desires had gotten the better of them.

"Hey," Haruki whispered when she regained her breath. Her smile was happier than any of those Isuke had seen before, and it was because of her. Isuke could feel her own mouth curving up into one.

"Hey."

Their faces were still close to each other, and Isuke thought Haruki was leaning in for another kiss when she felt their foreheads touching.

"You're sweaty," Isuke muttered, but her voice was devoid of complaint. She knew her own forehead was sweaty, feeling her bangs sticking to her skin.

"Hm," Haruki contently hummed, knowing that it didn't bother Isuke in the slightest. Kissing for five minutes straight had gotten to them both, especially beneath the merciless afternoon sun.

Isuke swallowed, mesmerized by the golden flecks in Haruki's eyes. "Hey, idiot."

"Hm?"

"The first time you asked me to eat lunch with you…was that a date?"

Isuke could feel the vibrations of Haruki's chuckle before she even heard it.

"A date?" she asked, twirling one of Isuke's long strands of hair around her finger. "To be honest, I didn't think of it as one until you were gone."

Isuke closed her eyes and smiled. "Then maybe we weren't so different after all."

When Haruki didn't reply for a long time, Isuke opened one eye to check if she had fallen asleep. But she was met with soft eyes fondly gazing at her.

"What is it?"

"You really do look prettier without a frown."

Blushing, Isuke closed her eyes and pretended to be annoyed when she said, "Don't say these cheesy things."

"But you love them."

Isuke frowned and thought about how it could have happened that she of all people became weak to these kind of things.

And the answer was so easy it almost embarrassed her that she hadn't realized it the first time she had blushed over something Haruki had said.

"So maybe I don't hate it," she quietly said, reaching out to touch Haruki's hand, intertwining their fingers. "But only because it's you."

Haruki smiled, knowing it wasn't easy for Isuke to open up and be honest about these things.

"Say, Isuke-sama, does it matter if our first lunch together was a date or not?"

Isuke bit her lip. "Not really." It did, and Haruki could tell.

"Then," Haruki said with a smile, "how about we say it wasn't."

She could feel Isuke freezing and decided to quickly release her from her worries.

"Isuke Inukai," she slowly said, taking both of Isuke's hands into hers. "Would you like to go out on a real first date with me?"

She should have seen this coming, Isuke thought, staring at Haruki's cheerful and hopeful expression.

"Idiot," she said with a roll of her eyes, but still smiled. "What do you think?"

Haruki pretended to think about it for a second before she replied with a wink, "Kiss me for a yes and kiss me twice for a double yes."

Isuke kissed her for a triple yes.


End file.
